Tie-plate



(No Model) B. WOLHAUPTER. TIE PLATE.

Patented June 15, 1897;

irnn rnrns ATENT ir rcn,

TlE- -PLATE.

srnorrronrron forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,617, dated. June15, 1897.

Application filed March 13, 1895.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it kn own that I, BENJAMIN VVOLHAUPTER, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at Morgan Park, county of Cook, State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inTie-Plates and I declare the following to be afull, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings,

7 which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object the production of an adjustabletie-plate-that is, one which when the lateral thrusts of the rail havemoved it along the tie, and thus widened the gage of the track, can by aslight shifting of its position be so adjusted as to return the rail toits normal position.

In a concurrently-pending application I have drawn attentionverycarefully to the advantages of an adjustable plate. The saidconcurrently-pending application relates more particularly, although notentirely, to a plate wherein the under flanges extend parallel with thegrain of the tie- The present application relates more par ticularly tothat class of plates wherein the flanges extend across the grain of thetie.

In the drawin gs, Figure 1 is a plan view of the rail and my plate. Fig.2 is an edge elevation of the plate. Fig. 3 is an edge elevation atright angles to Fig. 2. Figs. 4-, 5, and

.6 are plan and edge elevations, respectively,

of a variation.

In carrying out the invention, A represents the tie, B the rail, and Othe tie-plate. 011 the upper side of the plate are the ridges D, formingthe rail-abutments. There may be either one or two of these ridges, asdesired. On the under side the ridges may be formed in various ways andyet carry out the purpose of myinvention. In Fig. 1 I have showncontinuous ridges E, extending substantially at right angles to thegrain of the tie, so that when placed upon the tie the ridges out acrossthe fiber. Instead of making these under flanges exactly parallel withthe top flange or flanges, as has heretofore been the case, I

make them parallel with each other, but on a diagonal line with respectto the top flange or to the rail-flange. Now, as will be seen,

Serial No. 541,522. (No model.)

when the lateral thrust of the rail has caused the flanges E to compressthat fiber against which these flanges bear, and thus allowed the plateand rail to shift, by withdrawing the spikes and shifting the plateacross the tie, or, in other words, in a direction substantiallyparallel with the rail, the plate will, by virtue of the inclined ordiagonal position of the under flanges, be shifted at the same timeagainst the rail and will carry the latter back to its normal position,thus restoring the track to the proper gage. The spikes are thenredriven and the largest portion of the under flanges rests againstfiber that has once been compressed, thus making it much harder for therail again to shift the plate out of position. Instead of continuousflanges on the under side, as in Fig. 2, I might make a series of pointsor projections F F F arranged on a diagonal line, similar to the flangesE. In this latter case when the plate is shifted the point F is carriedto the orifice or indentation originally made by the point F andthe'point F is carried to the orifice originally made by the point Fwhile the latter makes a new orifice for itself.

It is obvious that instead of two flanges E or two sets of points F F Fthere might be only one flange E or one row of points and the object ofmy i11vention2'. 6., to produce a plate capable of adjustment for thepurpose of restoring the gage-still be attained.

It will be observed that in each of the above cases the flanges orpoints or the engaging devices extend across the grain of the tie and ona diagonal line with respect to the railflange.

What I claim is 1. A railway-tie plate provided on its under side with atie-engaging device or devices extending across the grain of the tie andarranged on a regular diagonal line with respect to the rail and atvarying distances therefrom, substantially as described.

2. A railway-tie plate provided on its under side with a tie-engagin gdevice extending across the grain of the tie and arranged on a regulardiagonal line with respect to the rail and at varying distancestherefrom, and at its upper side with one or more rail-abutments,substantially as described.

A railway-tie plate provided with a single projection only on its underside, said projection being a ridge extending across the grain of thetie and on a diagonal line with respect to the rail so that it will forman acute angle with the rail, substantially as described.

4. A railway-tie plate provided on its un der side with two or moreridges extending across the grain of the tie said ridges extending inparallel planes and arranged on a diagonal line with respect to the railso that each will form an acute angle with the rail, substantially asdescribed.

5. A railway-tie plate provided with a sin-

